"We are all One" unit first reading

Read the first part of "The World House" by Martin Luther King, Jr. and discuss how King emphasizes and illustrates the importance of the following purposes of the human race:

1) to transcend tribe, race, class, nation, and religion to embrace the vision of a World House
2) to eradicate at home and globally the Triple Evils of racism, poverty, and militarism
3) to curb excessive materialism and shift from a "thing"-oriented society to a "people"-oriented society
4) to resist social injustice and resolve conflicts in the spirit of love embodied in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence

Use this World House handout to guide your discussion and reading of this piece.

Synthesis Essay for Nature Unit

Choose one of these ten "trusts" developed by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff, naturalists who have dedicated their lives to the protection and preservation of wildlife, particularly animals.  Develop your central argument in support of this claim, using sources from the nature unit that you have been given and gathered in support of your argument.

1st TRUTH:  Rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom
2nd TRUTH:  Respect all life
3rd TRUTH: Open our minds, in humility, to animals and learn from them
4th TRUTH:  Teach our children to respect and love nature
5th TRUTH: Be wise stewards of life on Earth
6th TRUTH: Value and help preserve the sounds of nature
7th TRUTH: Refrain from harming life in order to learn about it
8th TRUST: Have the courage of our convictions
9th TRUST: Praise and help those who work for animals and the natural world
10th TRUST: Act knowing we are not alone and live with hope
CODA: After all is said and done, silence is betrayal.

Assignment:  In a well-developed essay, defend, challenge, or qualify with one of the statements above.  Develop your argument for your position using at least three (that means 4!) of the sources we have used during the nature unit.  These sources are listed below; refer to sources by letter or the term in parentheses.  At the end of your essay, please list the sources that you used, including any added sources, within this essay.

Source A (Klinkenborg) -- "Our Vanishing Night",
                                            National Geographic article, 2008
Source B (Carson) -- Excerpt from Silent Spring, book, 1962
Source C (Emerson) -- "Nature" essay, 1849
Source D (Dillard) -- "Seeing", excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker 
                                    Creek, book, 1974
Source E (Silko) -- "Landscape", Antaeus article, 1986
Source F (Oliver) -- "Owls", excerpt from Blue Pastures, 1995
Source G (Louv) -- Excerpt from Last Child in the Woods, 2008
Source H (image) -- either cartoon or photo/art piece that you found
Source I (choice) -- additional source of choice from those you found

Readings for the nature unit

RECORD REACTIONS TO THESE FOUR PIECES, USING THE STEPS BELOW:
1.  Annotate each piece, considering rhetorical devices and the rhetorical triangle.
2.  For EACH piece, record the author's purpose, identifying a claim and supports for this claim.
3.  Record appeals that you see this author using, and the effectiveness of these appeals.
4.  Also, consider counter arguments to this author's claim.

*These readings, annotations, and recorded reactions will be due by Monday, 4/21.

"Our Vanishing Night" by Verlyn Klinkenborg (2008)

Excerpt from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

"Nature" essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1849)

"Seeing" excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1974)--read first two pages only